I

Independent

• Avoid dependencies between stories

N

Negotiable

• Not contracts, but place holders for conversations

V

Valuable

• Can be directly tied to something a user or customer (purchaser) wants

E

Estimable

• Can fit into an iteration and be approximately estimated

S

Small

• Can be done in a "short" time & its details fit in a conversation

T

Testable

• Can describe ways in which we know the story works